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Vancouver Pride Parade 2015

Ever since we have lived in the West End (going on 10 years now) John and I have enjoyed watching the pride parade because it is so cheerful, inclusive, fun-filled, and vibrant. It has great music, exciting floats, happy faces, giveaways, and everyone from church groups and bands to community organizations and businesses take part. Here’s all you need to know about this year’s Vancouver Pride Parade:

When Sunday, August 2, 2015 from 12:00pm to 3:00pmWhere The parade begins at Robson Street and Thurlow Street, heads west to Denman Street, follows Denman to Pacific Street and Beach Avenue and finishes at Sunset Beach Pride Festival and Pride Market.

At the Sunset Beach Pride Festival and Pride Market you can browse through over one hundred exhibitors including local artisans, supporters and community organizations. A variety of bands, drag performers and speakers will be featured on the main stage, with DJs spinning in the beer garden throughout the day.

The second night of the Honda Celebration of Light saw an estimated 300,000 people pack Vancouver beaches for Team Brazil’s display in the longest running offshore fireworks competition. While I’m still out of town in New Orleans, I followed the comments online that called the show amazing, spectacular, and gave it an A+!

The final night of the fireworks is Saturday, August 1st. Team Canada will be up at 10:00pm along with “Skydancer” Anna Serbinenko at 8:00pm. Follow the Honda Celebration of Light on Facebook and Twitter for more information and check out free SHOREfest concerts in the afternoon, leading up to the fireworks.

It’s a big day in the tech and business world as Microsoft consumers using Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows 8.1 Phone can upgrade to Windows 10, Microsoft’s newest operating system. Windows 10 is available as a free upgrade for the first year after launch and will continue to be supported for the lifetime of the device, at no cost.

I remember upgrading our family’s home computer decades ago — remember the Weezer Buddy Holly video CD that came with Windows 95? It’s always a big day when you can upgrade your tech and Microsoft is bringing back some familiar features with Windows 10, like the Start Button, and new features like Microsoft Edge, Continuum, and coming to Canada in the fall, Cortana.

To mark the launch of Windows 10, Microsoft announced that they will help 10 global and 100 local non-profits to achieve greatness by investing more than $10 million in cash and technology investments, and today we’re announcing that we’re bringing the spirit of that campaign to Canada.

Upgrade Your World

Using the hashtag #UpgradeYourWorld, tell @WindowsCanada about the people or groups in your community who are empowering others to do great things. Or join the conversation and tell Microsoft how you would upgrade your world. Microsoft will bring a few of these ideas to life in the coming months.

Microsoft has identified nine global nonprofits (CARE, Code.org, Keep a Child Alive, Malala Fund, Pencils of Promise, Save the Children, Special Olympics, The Global Poverty Project, and The Nature Conversancy) and would like YOUR help spreading the word to people in your community about the opportunity to vote for a 10th nonprofit that will receive $500,000 as well as Microsoft technology and services.

“Many of the kids have lived with violence or the threat of violence for much of their young lives. Feeling safe is a right we all have but one these kids have not enjoyed.”

They have programs and outreach for at-risk youth including a Crisis Shelter, Drop in Centre, Street Outreach, and Rights of Passage.

Photo by Covenant House

From the emergency Crisis Shelter to Rights of Passage, where youth become self-sufficient, gainfully employed, successful individuals, Covenant House’s impact on our community, and the lives of BC youth, is extremely important.

I met David Peckham of the Village Bicylce Project in Nsiana, Ghana where he was showing kids how to do maintenance on their bikes. “Bikes provide power and opportunity, allowing people to lift themselves from poverty. Riding a bike is four times faster than walking, the only choice for millions of Africans. People with bikes get to schools, markets, farms and health care in one-fourth the time, improving their lives and economic futures.”

How will you #UpgradeYourWorld? Share your thoughts on social media tagging @WindowsCanada and be sure to upgrade your devices to Windows 10!

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About Miss604

Owned and operated by Rebecca Bollwitt, Miss604.com (since 2004) provides daily information about life in Metro Vancouver, events, community happenings and local history. It also features music, film, and television interviews along with travel features for day-trips and weekend getaways.

Online since 1997, Rebecca also started podcasting RadioZoom in 2005, co-founded sixty4media, a WordPress website development firm, in 2008, and co-authored the book, Blogging to Drive Business in 2010.

Read more about Rebecca »

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